For a coherent and closely argued speech on aviation's environmental responsibilities look no further than Martin Broughton's submission to the UK's Aviation Club on Wednesday 6 December.
The erudite British Airways chairman said: "I have no doubt whatever that the right policy response is to go with the grain of what society wants: an aviation sector that is environmentally responsible and focused on making real reductions in global carbon emissions. Carbon-safe flying, you might say."
In his view, this means emissions trading and not so-called green taxes. In fact, moments before he delivered his speech Broughton was told by his press office colleagues that the UK Chancellor Gordon Brown had doubled Air Passenger Duty.
Broughton was scathing in his response to this "extremely blunt instrument".
"It is a revenue raising measure, pure and simple," he said. Aviation is being treated as a "cash cow", he added.
On emissions trading, the European Commission's plan to include all flights in and out of the European Union as well as all those within the EU is "overly ambitious and self-defeating", said Broughton. "It will undoubtedly lead to international disputes, as non-EU states and airlines challenge the right of the EU to apply the scheme to them."
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